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I originally drew Fern Star in pencil, a look inspired by antique botanicals:

Nichole was writing to share a photo of her beautifully decorated living room with me -using Fern Star- and I was so thrilled to see it!! I asked if I could share it on Pure Style Home & she graciously agreed. I love how Nichole dressed up the curtains and brought in another shot of blue with the banding:

{work room services by Bill and Mario with MBP Interior Design Work Room Services in Dallas}

I also love how Nichole's style comes across so clearly in her living room, which she decorated herself. It feels so cheerful& pretty & freshly traditional. I was glad to see how versatile the pattern is. Nichole's mix of elements like the modern parsons table with traditional ginger jar lamp really gives the room a collected vibe. It's interesting and has an energy about it... it feels like it was put together over time.

We've also used Fern Star on curtains in our clients' home, but they were very different from Nichole's more tailored curtains,

We paired them with matchstick shades for a relaxed look:

Now that I've seen Nichole's banded Fern Star, I'm itching to try it out!! :) :)

Thank you so much to Nichole for sharing and for using our fabrics in her home!!! It's so exciting to me that something that started out so small a year or two ago is now a part of others people's lives!! :)

and soon this blog will automatically redirect you to the new address. I'll be posting instructions shortly on how to update your RSS Feed and email subscriptions.

I made the switch because I wanted to condense all of my websites into one cohesive site. The new website incorporates the blog, my professional website, and fabric shop all in one. We worked with super-talented Emily Thompson of Indie Shopography who created this:

See you over there soon!!

If you'd like help creating a home you absolutely love, contact me about our design services.

Next week, we are photographing the house that's consumed us for the past 11 and a half months. Almost a year ago, having just finished our house, and having out 3rd son, we stumbled upon a promising real estate listing a couple of towns over. The new house would be a complete redo and an almost total gut job.

{the new house, before}

Our heads told us to stay put because we were finally finished working on our house and we were so happy with it, but the ever-persistent "gut" said to go for it. With two boys and an infant...

... we plunged ourselves into a full on renovation:

{we lived here throughout the entire process}

It was truly the fastest year of my life. The whirlwind we entered into has been exhausting, exciting, rewarding and all-consuming. Throughout this process, I've felt so excited and happy with how everything's been going, but I've also felt stretched very thin. I work on doing the house after or before work is over, so our free time has been so limited. In a sense, it's like I'm slap happy a lot of the time. All along I've trusted that everything would fall into place and have felt a real peace inside- so I wouldn't say this process has been emotional at all or that I've felt anything but awesome about it- but it's more like my brain is on overload and I just sort of have to shrug or laugh at the amount of work that needs to be done in so little time. In short, I haven't regretted our decision for even a moment but I am SO ready to relax a bit and have a little more time.

{need more moments like these}

So... it's all coming down to this next week. We chose to put this insane deadline on ourselves because it was really important to me that the house be photographed when it's in full bloom... My house is all about indoor-outdoor living and when you're inside, the outside is right there with you. The outdoors are so much a part of the house's design that we need to photograph it at a time that really illustrates this feature. It's pretty much why I fell in love with the house in the first place.

We have people coming to stucco the fireplace today and there are a few miscellaneous painting and touch up projects we need to get done. Curtains are going up, artwork is being hung, and long-awaited pillows and bedding are arriving. It's so satisfying!! But also a bit nerve-wracking... will everything actually get here in time?? I'm sure a few things won't and I don't know what to do about them. We bought a dining table online a couple of weeks ago from a company in Pennsylvania (with local pick up only) and have not been able to get in touch with them about picking it up. Without it, I don't really know what to do, but we can't exactly drive up there and knock on the door of the shop without knowing if they're open. Stuff like that... and there's a lot of it. To be honest, this is exactly what it's like when working on clients' projects, but the fact that it happens during work hours makes such a difference. We've been doing everything on borrowed time.

{Christian}

Christian- our six year old- once told me that he liked our old house better. When I asked him why, he said "Because you and Daddy work too much here." Made me sad and feel terrible. (Where do kids learn how to do that guilt thing?!! ;) ;)

Anyway, please send some good thoughts (and energy!!) our way this next week. Helen (our photographer) will be shooting Wednesday through Friday so we have a few more days for things to actually get here. Fingers crossed!!!

{To do before next week: stain the house, fix the garden edges, among other things}

We're working out what we'll actually be doing with the photos of our house once we have them, and I just cannot wait to share them. (I was always that annoying kid who wanted to show my parents or grandparents what I was excited about: "Look at what I made!!" .. So I guess I haven't changed much.) I have been thinking of a magazine to publish it and am also playing with other ideas. This house has been such a part of us, and we've poured so much into it. We think of it as our "forever" house. It's not big or impressive, but it's ours and we love it. I can't wait to share it.

ps- In the midst of all of this, we're launching a brand-new website. This blog will be moving. At this point, it's still up, but when we make the move (any day now) this blog will automatically redirect to the new one at laurenliess.com/pure-style-home I'll post info on how to refresh your subscription and all of those fun techy details soon!!

If you'd like help creating a home you absolutely love, contact me about our design services.

With things as hectic as they've been lately, I've been truly cherishing my time in our garden.﻿

{We created our garden with the help of my friend Danylo, owner of Organic Edible Gardens www.oegardens.com who we worked with to design & install the entire thing.}

It's the first thing I do when I wake up (ok, after kids and putting out fires) and walking through it, weeding, snipping things here and there just makes me feel at peace.

We found an old potting table and it's made planting, cutting and washing so much easier. Having a place to stash everything has made such a difference and I now can't imagine the garden without it:

The garden's full of flowers right now, including limelight hydrangeas, echinacea and English roses. I've been loving cutting them and bringing in fresh bouquets.

The Asian cucumbers are possibly our favorite thing in the garden right now. This one is over a foot and a half long and I even plucked it a little early!--

They're so good we can eat them plain!!

There's something about bringing things inside from the outside that I just can't get enough of. We cook with herbs from the garden almost every night and have just been getting to enjoy the tomaters!!!

The boys fight over who gets to actually pick everything. I'm looking forward to when all of the plants are producing fruit so "picking" is a little more peaceful ;)

Here's one of my favorite most recent meals from the garden:

Eating from our garden makes me so incredibly happy!!! The boys love to help out and this weekend we put together our own little invention (which I'm sure has probably been invented before)- "pestodillas:"

Here's the Recipe:

﻿

-We took fresh baked whole wheat tortillas (whole foods' fresh baking, not ours ;) and layered them with pesto from the garden, shredded parmesan cheese, fresh spinach, garden tomatoes and a wheat tortilla with garlic butter on one side. (Oh sooooo bad but so good!!! Will try without the garlic butter next time to be good ;) ;)

-We microwaved them for a minute and were in love!!

I hope you get the chance to try it = Heaven.

Anyway, I'm off for another crazy day, but I hope you enjoyed this peek into our garden. We're photographing our house next week and there's still so much that needs to be done... Curtains & artwork need to go up (and be framed!!) , hardware needs to be installed, things need to be painted, bedding and pillows are being made, and we have a couple more small construction projects to finish up with. So many things need to fall in place in order for next week to happen and I'm really feeling the pressure. We're photographing it as early as we are because I want to have the photos happen when everything is in full bloom around here, which is now. This morning I woke up sort of just wishing I could give up though. :/ (I think that's mostly because I'm tired & sick and it's Monday ;) ;)

I think I need to take one more little walk through the garden this morning.
Have a good one!!

ps- If you missed my last post, our new distance decorating service - PARCEL- is finally available!!! We've had an overwhelming response to the service (which is available on a first-come, first-serve basis) and I can't thank you all enough for spreading the word and for your support!!

If you'd like help creating a home you absolutely love, contact me about our design services. If you are interested in PARCEL please mention it in your inquiry.

As a decorator & a textile designer, this is my place to muse... perfection doesn't interest me; Reality and charm do. Fresh floppy flowers from the garden over long-stemmed roses any day, I love it when things are slightly off and tell a story.